I have noticed how anime has really been an interest among many people in the forums and in reality. I never cought on to the craze. I was wondering why do you like it and how serious do you take it? I see many mods anime-based, which shows that must be the new popular craze. Some would rather have oblivion turned into Final Fantasy. Perhaps it's the characters looking moody or the sexual subliminal messages.

Anime, to some people is considered a culture, while others simply consider it a style of art. Sometimes I see people, depending on where you look, actually trying to live in the Japanese pop culture, by imitating the culture, even though they are not even Japanese. I find it funny how such a simple cartoon style can really change a person.

This topic is interesting to me and I would like others to enlighten me by giving their opinions.

Now, my main questions are:

1) How much are you into anime?

a) Im obsessed

b) It's alright

c) It does not interest me


2) What got you into it?


3) Why do you like it?

I was introduced to anime when I lived in Guam, by a friend who said "hey, wanna watch this Japanese cartoon? Dude it's so violent!" He knew how to get my attention. Now I love anime.
Not all of it is super powered, kung fu, with giant robots in ultra violent death matches (just the good ones), a lot of anime actually has really deep and involving story lines. There is even a large genre targeted specifically at females.

Some anime shows are fine for the average person who may just be watching an episode because they can't sleep and there's nothing else showing on the late-night tube, but most shows have a running story line like a soap opera that you really have to follow or else it makes no sense at all. And of course there are quite a few that make no sense regardless of how many episodes you watch. Maybe you have to be high, I have not tried that yet.

It's no different than any other type of show/movie, you just have to find the style you like. Take me as an example, I prefer the "samurai, close-combat and supernatural style" shows like Seven Samurai, Shinobi, Tenjho Tenge, Inu Yasha and Bleach. So logic would dictate that I should also like Dragonball Z, but I don't, it's a horrible waste of tv air time in my opinion.
There are also a few that are clearly meant for adult viewers, like Ghost in the Shell, Tenjho Tenge, Cowboy Bebop, Appleseed (all great btw) that have all the drama, great acting, story and plot of any big budget weekend movie.
And then there's hentai, but that's a whole other topic that I will not get into.

Whatever your tv show/movie favorite is, there is a type of anime to match it that will keep you entertained. Then again, there is also the chance that you just might not like any of it at all, but I hope it's not because you think of it as "just a cartoon."

Edit: to answer your questions directly:

1: I'm not obsessed with anime, I'm obsessed with the anime shows that I like.
2: A friend and living in a country where Bugs Bunny was not the most famous animated celebrity
3: I'm not sure. Maybe it's the same reason I like videogames.

You know, you could ask similar things about many 'art' movements and similar things. Why do some people feel the need to adopt a 'gothic' life style for instance.

To me anime is simply one aspect of pop culture. I have no particular liking for it (I'm probably past the age where it might interest me) but it is not repulsive or offensive in itself.

I never got into it,but then I don't watch a whole lot of TV anyway.I guess its like anything else like being a trekki or whatever,some people just love it.And fantasizing or dressing up like is all ok,if its not taken to the extreme

There are somethings I will watch, mostly samurai shows but thats about it

OT<Dez, your profile says your near Lake Michigan, Im from Michigan

I never cought on with the craze, because I saw a lot of repetition. For example, there is a person looking moody on a cliffside pondering about something, such as "what is my destiny or meaning in life", or why is this lad feeling ashamed of women finding him fancy, and then feeling uncomfortabe.

I made a fascinating discovery a month ago. I found William Shakespeare's "Hamlet" turned into a manga book. I took a look at the book and found it suprisingly creative. It was not completely remade with extra plots and oversized weapons. I considered it a nice blend between eastern and western cultures.

Well, that's kinda understandable, but only if you apply the same criticism to all media. In the last 6 years, how many movies out of Hollywood were actually "original" in their character attitudes or story line? Most people can not name three, I certainly can not.


Ah, so there is something you like? Most people think the difference between anime and manga is that one is on the screen and the other is a book. That's not entirely accurate. Most anime is based on manga, but the true difference is that manga has an actual set of rules that artists have to follow. There are a few animated mangas, but they rarely get air time here in the US, mostly because the anime shown here is all action packed, shoot'em up, giant swords, super powers and nuclear robots. By comparison, true manga is boring. While Hamlet may indeed keep you and I glued to the screen for 3 hours, the lack of ratings (and thus money) would all but ensure nothing like it will be shown again. Sad on many levels, but such is the way of the business world.

That about summarizes how I feel about anime. I'll add that I think a lot of people seem to mistake anime for a genre of animation, when it is more a subset composed of many different genres. As Woogie indicates, there are as many types of anime as there are genres of movies from sci-fi to western to fantasy to courtroom drama.

1) How much are you into anime?
It is ok, I actually don't watch TV that much at all.

2) What got you into it?
If by that you mean "what show" then Neon Genesis Evangelion. I like to learn new things and that show gave me a lot of interesting religious, psychological, mathematical, and philosophical ideas to research when I was younger.

3) Why do you like it?
Anime ages with the audience. Anime rejects the notion that something illustrated must target an audience of minors. This is where most other animated features outside of Japan fail as they are comparitively simplistic for the purpose of marketing toward children. Anime comes in all shapes and sizes from very kiddy like "Pokémon" to deeply (perhaps disturbingly) philosophical like "Neon Genesis Evangelion". Knowing that, I'm suprised so many people can judge anime so liberally based on looks alone.

I don't get it, but I'm old, and i'm into plenty of things others don't get.. so.

no one is ever old not u not anyone

i dont get it either

Carth Onasi

Aww, that's sweet. But tell that to my achy bones! Plus my brain doesn't work like it used to, but at least it still works, it just takes longer!

I am suprised how many have replied and said that it is not a big priority to them. I usually see anime based on appearance, because so many people would download anime-based mods rather than ones that blend well with the lore of Oblivion.

In other words, it targets everything from epileptic 7-year-olds to angsty 15-year-olds.

TENTACLES

Asking if someone likes anime is the same asking someone likes movies or music or books or whatever of the kind.

The answer is aways: Depends, I like some movies, certain musics and a lot of books... but I dislike a lot too.

For one I dislike series meant to sell tolls, I refuse even placing such in the anime category albeit the episodes may have all the technical rules that says they are. They are advertisement, just it, at least in my opinion.

I can name a few animes worthy a try although they seldom would be at the top of the favorites of the average people.

Monster: This is a really good one... err... would be "much more" better if produced as a 30/36 episodes instead the 74 it took. This is about a Japanese neural surgeon resident in Germany Country that saves a boy's, with a bullet in the head, life. The problem is in so doing following the hospital "priorities" he condemned the guy he had a scheduled operation and lead him to conscience crises that eventually cost him the career. In the meantime he finds the boy he saved is more than things seems to be and "correcting" the mistake of saving the boy's life becomes the quest of his life. Quest that should have a few less "subquests" that turned the already slow plot slower. But, as said... One of the best animes to me.
(Don't be fooled by the title, you'll not see any monster in this one, at least not something different you see in the real world if you look carefully)

GTO (Great teacher Onisuka): Someway this one defies my analytical senses It is a mix of humor, drama and seems to be a deep criticism of the Japanese education institutes. Recommended to slight above average teens and good fun to grownups.

Serial Experimental Lain - This is probably the most controverse anime ever done. No single episode will make sense for itself, the whole thing seems to be open to interpretation... Since I don't saw all its episodes, mainly I don't saw the ending I can't judge it, but it have me curious yet today.

Not all animes are episode based. Some titles I like

Spirited Away (movie) - a surrealist voyage a little girl get caught with her parents when returning home.

Wonderful Day - A post apocalypse based drama, well done.

Akira - A classical of the genre


There is more, much more beyond the retard titles (and retarding effects); absurd powers; "I have a sword bigger than yours"; fantastical prowess ... and so on. Really taking a title and judging a genre by it isn't the better way to do things.

Even those feats (not all, the retarding will be retarding aways) can be used in good effects.

Edit: since I'm well above teen days, indeed have left most of the youth in the past and I like good animes ... Surely isn't a age issue here. When in the university days and after, already working in a highly technical job; reading comics was a good way to relief the stress all the times I couldn't take the family to wander around, and the kids to the ever preferred "shopping trip"

No, that's not what I said at all. Please reread for comprehension.

If you have some point you'd like to debate please post it instead of off-colour remarks.

Okay, let me simplify what I'm saying. If I need to be even more verbose, please tell me and I'll break it down a bit further.

You assert that Pokémon targets the youngest age group for an anime series, and that Neon Genesis Evangelion targets the oldest age group. As near as I can figure, Pokémon is intended for 7-year-olds, but that could be significantly younger for all I know. I do know with certainty, however, that the appeal for Neon Genesis Evangelion caps out at around age 15.

Thus, if Neon Genesis Evangelion is the most sophisticated anime you can think of, it's fair to say that the age distribution that this stuff targets is pre-teens, with 4 years' worth of variation.

You've missed it again, unfortunately.

I am comparing the relatively light themes of Pokemon to the progressively darker themes of NGE. The latter show possesses maturer elements to be enjoyed by an older audience. It doesn't really matter how much older as long as the audience is older than Pokemon's target demographic. That is: NGE does not 'target the oldest age group' but can appeal to older and smarter audiences with its use of more complex thematic elements than something like Pokemon.

Now to get a little back on track...

Lets look at one source, which seemed to always jump in my face every day. The Nexus. Since the creation of all these beauty packs, eyes, and hair mods, most characters featured in screenshots seem to be anime-based. Many clothing mods for the past year have the same chatacteristics, mainly recreations of Final Fantasy. They even have a sticky in the Oblivion Mod section. These great fans seem to download them in a heartbeat, and I am wondering if people would like to completely revamp Oblivion into Final Fantasy. It seems like someone really likes anime to the point where it must make other things obsolete. Again, I am suprised to see how many people are not on the bandwagon. Perhaps the katana has not completely destroyed the battleaxe.

I watch anime from time to time but I guess I watched 3 or 4 in my entire life, the thing is I really dont like anime, on tv and in comic books, I am a huge fan of comics and I buy various comics for 20 years, I just cant stand the anime style... I mean after seeing the master pieces from Romita, Romita Jr (Spider man, Thor) EriK Larsen (Former Spider Man, Savage Dragon) Mc Farline(Former Spider Man, Spawn) or Jim Lee (Superman, Batman) those anime look like drawings from an eight year old...

I recently got Batman Gotham Knight Dvd and I cant watch it cause part of it is anime style... Can you imagine a Bruce Wayne in anime?

P.S: If you like comics, I recommend Batman Hush series, it is a great serie with a great story with great images...

Well Final Fantasy is its own universe (like Star Wars) so getting into that might completely derail your topic. I'm a FF fan myself, goodness knows I've spread the hype about the Hiyoko Store as much as I could, but while I think it's cool to have some clothing and items to play around with, I personally would not like a FF conversion. If it got that serious, I'd just buy FF 11 or one of the 8000 other FF games.

Some of the FF worlds do look a lot like Cyrodiil and the basic weapons are the same (not counting size) so I am not surprised so much stuff has been made for Oblivion. That and taking into account that Oblivion allows the one thing that no other FF game does, which is the freedom to customize and alter things to your exact preference, it makes Oblivion almost the perfect place to build your own version of a FF world.

For a lot of people (myself included) FF was their first and probably the deepest RPG of their childhood, so it's natural to want to see that content in other venues.




On a side note, I'd like to point out that I have never, on any forum, been this deep into a topic. I'm actually enjoying the discussion, which is extremely rare considering everyone knows that I hate everything. Hopefully, no one else will steer the conversation off topic.

Every commercial I've seen for Gotham Knight makes it abundantly clear that it's anime, and the box-art is a dead giveaway, how could you not know? Anyway, that dvd is a good example of what we were talking about earlier: the different styles. You say you can't watch it because part of it is in anime style, actually all six parts are anime, they're just different styles. I'm betting the part you couldn't watch was the Bulletproof segment? That's the style shown most often on American tv, so most people recognize it pretty easily.

Well I didnt do a through search about Gotham Knight I just got it and tried to watch it...

^I've never even heard of it. Imagine that!


And the cartoons I liked when I was a kid looked like this! (A Favorite!!!)

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8459036700047862929

In fact I love any cartoon with Witch Hazel.
http://www.videosift.com/video/Bug-Bunny-i...tick-Bunny-1956


My point? For those who may have missed it, is that age does seem to have something to do with a liking for or familiarity with anime. I can be a bit oblique.

Keeping on the topic I shall say I don't like animelike content in Oblivion, but I must say the same to whatever isn't in the original lore too. But I'm talking about the random and gratuitous mess. Destroys the game and turn it a sims of sorts.

But there is no word, here, about elements from another source couldn't be included in a mod. If well cared it can add to the game. Is enough it brings some fun. Enterprise and Kirk gets the wrong subspace ale and find themselves lost in Nirn? OK ... a Sigil citizen takes the wrong portal and is caught in Morrowind? great. Finding a way to return home may be the very quest's soul.

are comics, animes, books, movies, whatever other artform childish?... No doubt it may be, indeed isn't easy to trace the point where something is childish. redhood (or whatever is her name in English) is far from being a childish story in it's origin, it's a grim tale whit no good end. Yet Groo, the wanderer isn't meant to children albeit it may seems so at first glance. By side, several titles that seems targeted to adult audience are clearly teen/childish in concept.

Comics have some great characters and a bunch of crap that go far beyond the ridiculous. All kind of art have the good, the bad and the ugly.

Must Oblivion be the stage to all kind of abuses? well, this is something each one have his own answer and shall go only for whatever he likes. As for me I'll not be the judge of what is good for others. I have several experimental works in the test environment and keep the one I use to play the way a like to play (and I must say I have yet others two environments I keep clean for development, 1.1 and 1.2 versions. sadly I haven't had the time and will to do something lately).

Over the past six years I believe that I have watched enough anime, though most with fleeting interest, to agree with Woogie in that there is a style/genre that most, if not all, would find interest in. However, without a previous introduction to anime in any of it's forms I find it hard to believe that most would actively seek out one that did. My first experience was either Suikoden III(an RPG for the Playstation II) or Fruits Basket(Furuba). My old best friend Crys introduced me to Fruits Basket which is my favorite anime to this day. For me it wasn't the style in which the animation was done, though the smooth and almost polished look did appeal to my eyes. Instead, it was the story line its self that had kept me glued to the couch.

In my opinion, that smooth, polished feel that I have seen in the more anime-based mods may be why they are quite popular. As I mentioned before I find it's appearance to my likeing. The overly round faces and eyes...I like better than the original, however don't quite fit in with Morrowind it's self, and so prefer more realistic facial features. Luckily, with the variety of mods that are available i've been able to find a balance of the two that I am content with.

There is no simple answer to this. Anime is something which can have different meanings to different people. Regardless of the meaning, for most people it's seen as different from everything else. There are those who like this difference, and become enamored by it, and there are those who are disturbed by it. The key differences between most Anime and western cartoons is that most Anime tends to be episodic, where things that happen in one episode usually make reference to things which happened in previous episodes. Whereas most western cartoons tend to be 10-30 minutes per episode, and each episode makes almost no reference to other episodes other than sharing characters. Western cartoons can be watched and understood without ever seeing that series before. Some anime on the otherhand can be quite confusing if you happen to skip a few episodes, or pick it up half way through the season.

This leads into the next difference. Anime is written to fill a season, cartoons are written to perpetual until they are canceled. Through the course of an anime season, a single series tends to present a whole story, introducing characters, plot, climax, resolution. Through the course of a cartoon season, the only plot and climax which is presented is quickly resolved within the same episode rather than several episodes later. This is again so that the cartoon can be viewed and reviewed endlessly without being linked to other episodes. Cartoons are cancelled and setup to go on nearly endless re-runs based on who buys the series. Anime on the other hand rarely gets cancelled, but instead is only bought one season at a time, when a season finishes it only goes through re-runs if it is popular, but almost always ends up being released to DvD to generate more money from the franchise. The series which get turned into the posterchild of "anime" are actually those series which do not normally follow this pattern. Series like Dragon Ball Z, Pokemon, Naruto, and now Bleach are given preferred status, and are bought seasons in advance because they were so popular and so good at selling advertisments. This subset isn't indicative of what all anime is, but instead just shows what the more popular market is looking for. Often this group is aimed toward young male children, 6-12 years old, and rarely shows value that more mature audiences would appreciate. Although this has gotten better in more recent years, the black mark left by the pokemon craze, and the dumbing down and butchering of the series for import has made the series harder to tolerate for anyone of intelligence.

It is usually after the season has run that foreign companies start looking at how the anime performs within a market, and if it would make a good transition to their own market. Depending on how well they think that anime can go mainstream in their own country, they may decide to dub it, (replace japanese with their own spoken/written language (often changing conventions and character names)) sub it, (keep the same audio, but try to provide some written subtitles so that non-speakers can know what is being said (some are better than others) butcher it, (blur images, change images, change both meaning and images, or remove whole scenes/episodes which they feel wouldn't be appropiate for their audience). Series which are shown on TV tend to go through both dubbing and butchering, often removing those parts which make the series as popular as it is, or just distorting it into something unintelligable. Series which are just released to DvD within another country tend to only have Dubs or Subs on them as the DvDs are aimed for anime fans within that country who wouldn't stand to have a series adapted to be better digested for their culture.

Why do I say all this... Because some people get particular ideas about anime just because they only see a small fraction of it on Cartoon Network. They think that it has to all be violent, have giant robots, big swords, and be barren of deeper meanings. This isn't the case, just like you can't get a good understanding of what car culture is by going to an auto show. Both are highly commercialized and consturcted for easier digestion by the public. And both present something which, although related, does not describe all there is to that culture or that medium.

That said, I'm with you on alot of this, bringing in anime related mods to a non-anime game just makes things look bad. People who become fanatic about a single series, especially a series which is older than they are, just makes it look bad for others. FFVII was cool... 10 years ago (not really, you'd be harassed, called a geek, or beaten up if you wore the shirt that came with pre-ordering the game). Some people really just need to move on and see what else is out there. As anime becomes more main stream, it is really those who are so fanatic, and so focused in one aspect which does more to prevent others from showing real interest, or even giving that form of media a chance. And because of this, the only types of series which people are exposed to are those which are geared toward more simple minds.

I watch anime, not because it's cool, or because a series really speaks to me, but because it's different. Anime, atleast the unbutchered variety, often presents concepts and ideas which are not found in western media. As mentioned, it can also have more depth of plot and characters. Because of this, I approach it more of art than entertainment, I enjoy the stories and characters which are presented, and take note how one series influences or gets referenced to by others. It allows me to clear my head and relax much the same way that jogging or reading a book might help others. I don't go to conventions, I don't own stacks of DvDs and Manga, I don't obsess and promote any single series, I simply try to enjoy and appreciate what is there, and available for whatever value it has outside of cultural concerns.

Vagrant, I appreciate that point of view. You like it because it simply entertained you. You did not let a craze change you into something you are not.

This point of view i do not understand:

Oh plz plz show me your character with the trenchcoat and katana plzzz! ='-'= XD <----- What is the point of this bullcrap?

Well, Trenchcoats & katanas can be considdered "cool", but that (to me) sounds more like someone trying to sound "leet" than an anime-possessed soul.

To answer your questions:
1) Moderate.
2) Watching it on late night TV when nothing else was on.
3) I'm a writer and a story teller, I love a good story.

Now for my rant on the subject. My first anime I saw when I started getting into stories was Cowboy Beebop. It is still my favorite anime because of it's story. Untill then I was watching american cartoons for entertainment and the stories seemed to end in the same cliche way, the hero always won. When I saw the last 3 episodes of Beebop I was in awe at the story. I was at the edge of my seat during the final fight between Spike and Viscious. By the time the ending credits started rolling I felt a well of emotions I didn't feel when watching other shows. I personally like anime for the stories and for that same reason I'll watch anything that has a good story regardless of who made it or what art style it's in. My personal favorite anime's are Cowbow Beebop, Code Geass, Gantz, D. Gray man, and Death Note.

This about explains it for me aswell

As for mods I have downloaded a few of those mods that add something from an anime or is stylized like an anime. Not for love of of an anime but because I find that specific item might look cool or match a set. Here's an example I downloaded a mod that had an ANBU mask from the naruto series to use with my character Drukon. I used this mask because it matched the style of Drukon who is a tabaxi assassin. He is fierce, savage, and merciless so a mask of an animal that embodies these traits seemed a perfect match. The mask also happened to be white and red like the Hashasin armor he wears.

This is a very stereotypical vision of anime seen often but it is not an acurate depiction. This is like saying all mexicans like burritos after seeing a comercial about burritos. Like many things anime has many different variations. Some have an emo/gothic style to them, some have a techno/popculture style, some have deep storylines, some have mindless violence, some are funny, and some are plain strange. Like many things it's all a matter of what your taste is.

@ BlackSnake
I Agree. It's like I mentioned before, and as Vagrant reiterated, a lot of Americans have made a blanket judgment based only on what they see on the Cartoon Network.

@ Kresselack
I can not explain the actions or mentality of someone who takes fanship to that extreme of being an annoyance to other people. Football fans that scream and yell at the television, race fans that paint the number 3 on the back of their trucks, anybody that owns a fathead poster and anime nerds that pester you to see your character while typing in internet-retard-speak. They're all quite pathetic to me as they make entire groups of people look bad, but what can you do?

People like that are like going to the beach and seeing a super hot girl with really ugly feet. Try as you might to just ignore them, in the back of your mind you know they're still there, and it's annoying. But rather than making the judgment that the beach sucks, just grab your cooler and walk to a different part of the beach, you're certain to find an area where all the girls have pedicures... or in this case, where all the fans are still sane.

Unlike most western shows, Anime tends to be rather interconnected, even across companies. Many of the situations being shown in very similar ways may be an actual attempt to reference that eariler scene in another anime... This can be done for many different reasons ranging from parody, self-parody, establishing a character as a familiar type, or paying hommage to an earlier series which influenced the wrtier of the anime. You also have to considder another aspect, many anime within a particular genre, like shonen (young boys) use and reuse character designs and concepts because that is what that audience wants... For instance main characters with spiky hair, or more recently, main characters who are moody for no reason. Within the broad scope of anime, this makes it easier to determine shows with better writting and character design from shows which are poorly written/conceived. By re-using the same kind of character motif for minor characters, the anime doesn't need to spend a whole lot of time explaining them, and they can simply be taken as is.

You should keep in mind, that within a season, as many as 9 or 10 new series may be made. Think of it like like later 80's/early 90's FOX sitcoms, except is continuous, there are alot of them being made, and although some have potential, only a few get picked up later, and most never get seen outside the primary audience. Of those that get picked up in the US, most are only the really popular series, and the key demographic is between the ages of 6 and 12. Only a few exceptions, like Death Note, Ghost in the Shell, which are aimed at an older audience ever get the following to be brought over.

Finally, remember, the first key difference I mentioned about anime was depth of characters and story. For an audience to stick with a series for the whole season, it has to present characters who change over time, and present a story which has a definate beginning, middle, and end. As a result many anime within a certain genre tend to retell the same stories, or mix in the same characters, which can, to some, make one series within a genre look very similar to other series in the same genre. However it's really the minor differences and twists which make one series better than the other. It was said once, I forgot where, that there are only about a dozen or so really unique stories which people keep on telling and retelling, sometimes the settings are changed, sometimes there are different characters, but the very basic story remains essentially the same. This is true of movies, books, television shows, and anime. When you have a chance, take a look around your local bookstore, find a genre, like mystery, and chances are that out of 5 books randomly selected from different authors, that atleast 2 of them will have the same basic story just changed settings, characters, and events. Hence "The Butler did it"...

Actually, if you look, there is a wider variety of anime available these days compared to the past. 5 or 10 years ago about all you saw on the market were either ultra-violent, kiddy, or sexually explicit anime. Much of the reason for this was because watching anime was something which was religated to college dorms more than broadcast television. Those kinds of shows were being bought, so those kinds of shows were about all that was getting liscensed. The change happened not because of Adult swim, but because of illegal copying and distribution of unliscensed anime over the internet. People could download episodes of a series they never heard of, and see what they were missing. Several shows like DBZ, Naruto, and Bleach were really only brought to light because there were people talking about them online. Although they were still popular in their own right, because there were so many people in a given market who were fans of the series, the companies involved precieved less risk in liscensing the series for distribution. Although they probably wouldn't admit it, an illegal act saved them the trouble of doing market research and introducing a series to customers. This is a unique feature about anime since it can often be determined how well a series will do in any market by looking at who is downloading illegal copies of that anime. Although in some cases the anime which is liscensed gets changed in some way, even those who had downloaded the series illegally often buy the series once released simply so that they can re-watch it whenever they want. These illegal downloads also allow people to preview a series before spending $20-40+ on a single season. As a result, you can probably find a fairly wide range of titles and genres at your local video store available for purchase or rent. The best way to understand anime is to experience those aspects of it which aren't normally available.

Even if you don't like the series, the characters, or the story, you can still often appreciate the artwork in an anime. Unlike in western animation, backgrounds can often be crazy detailed and complex. Next time you watch one of those shows, take a look at what else is being shown and actually think about what you are seeing, you may be quite a bit suprised. If the scene isn't a straight pan, considder how much time and effort would have to go into something like that, and considder that that sort of feat is done on a weekly basis. Half the reason why I watch anime is to take note of how buildings and structures get drawn, and redrawn from different angles. Although some of the buildings are real, ofen what is shown is entirely fictional, making the whole process even more amazing.